Mayor Coleen J. Seng and private business redevelopers today broke ground to build new businesses on the south side of 48th and “O” streets. The $10 million project south of “O” Street between 48th and 50th streets includes a West Gate Bank, a Runza Restaurant and Braeda® Fresh Express Café and a Walgreen’s store. The businesses will employ about 100 people.

“The entire community is anxious to see this blighted area be transformed into an attractive retail center, and this groundbreaking is another important step,” said Mayor Seng. “The private investment on both the north and south sides of ‘O’ Street, combined with the new public investment in infrastructure will make this a productive and bustling retail area once again and generate new sales tax revenue.”

Earlier this month, Mayor Seng announced that Hy-Vee Inc. will invest $15 million in a new 78,000-square-foot supermarket on the north side of “O” Street between 50th and 52nd streets. The store will employ about 400 people, and construction is expected to begin by late fall.

The City’s project in the area includes the widening of “O” Street to six lanes from 45th to 52nd; improvements on 48th from “M” to “R”; and installing new water mains. Both “O” and 48th streets are scheduled to be open to traffic in late fall 2006. The public and private projects were scheduled at the same time to minimize inconvenience to the public and existing area businesses.

The new businesses on the south side of “O” street are scheduled to open in early 2007. The 14,000-square-foot Walgreen’s on the southeast corner of 48th and “O” will employ about 35 people. The Runza Restaurant and Braeda® Fresh Express Café to be built east of the Walgreen’s will employ about 50 people. The 6,000-square-foot West Gate Bank and office building on the southwest corner of 50th and “O” will employ about 12 people. The redevelopment agreement includes green space to buffer the new commercial activity from the adjoining neighborhood.

“We faced many challenges in the redevelopment of this area, but we all shared a strong desire to bring this area back to life,” said Mayor Seng. “I want to thank our partners in the private sector and the City staff who worked with them to make these exciting projects happen.”